Photo via urbanpk.com

Pakistani Christian man accused of blasphemy sent to jail

Hector Aleem, a Pakistani Christian activist who last month was accused of committing blasphemy, has been sent to the district jail in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, reports Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan, special to ASSIST News Service.

Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws have been widely abused by hard-line Muslims for settling personal scores or as a means of taking vendetta.

Hector Aleem was running a Human Rights Organization called Peace Worldwide before the blasphemy allegation was leveled against him.

The Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), a Pakistan based human rights group which is pursuing his case said that several Muslim men submitted affidavits to the police stating that Aleem is innocent.

However, it is not known why the police still decided to send Aleem to jail despite receiving affidavits in his favor.

Police have also arrested another Christian man, Basharat Masih, in connection with Hector Aleem’s case. Masih was holding a secretarial position in Peace Worldwide.

Unlike High Courts, Lower courts in Pakistan have in the past convicted and sentenced people accused of blasphemy after allegedly coming under intense pressure from Muslim mobs who are said to be incited by Islamists after the word on blasphemy spreads.

Several blasphemy-accused have been killed extra-judicially in the past. Human rights organizations have been calling for repeal of the laws owing to their rampant abuse by Islamists.

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TAGS: Pakistan Christian man blasphemy persecution Islamists

[02/05/2009]

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